2nd Time Mom has a fast easy birth, thanks to Hypnobabies!

Teagun Rex was born Monday, June 14 at 9:15pm. He weighed 7lbs, 2oz and was 21.5 inches at birth. He looked like a skinny tiny old man :-D. He has huge hands and feet, a small head, and gets his ears from his daddy and his blue eyes from his mommy’s side.

Our birthing day started around 8:00 in the morning on June 14 (one day and 1.5 hours earlier than I had been visualizing). I started feeling mild PW that seemed almost indistinguishable from the Braxton Hicks I had been having for months, except that that they seemed to be coming about every 10 minutes.

We already had a non stress test scheduled, because we were 41 weeks, so we headed to our appt at 11. The PW had gotten less consistent, but never stopped. The test and following ultrasound showed that Teagun’s heartrate was dropping with the waves, and his fluid levels were low. This concerned the doctor, and while she was very supportive of our desire to have a natural, intervention free labor, she felt this necessitated a Pitocin induction, and she sent us to the hospital. Before we left she did a cervical check (only my 2nd with this pregnancy; the first was kind of a surprise), said I was 3 cm dilated. I agreed to having my membranes stripped, and she said that got me easily to a 4.

We meandered over to the hospital, after getting some lunch and snacks. I was sure to drink a lot of fluids in an effort to help out his fluid level.

While I know that the health of our baby is paramount to my emotional well being, it still didn’t mean I was happy about the idea of a medical induction. We brought our breast pump on the off chance they’d let us try natural means first. On the ride to the hospital, I listened to one of my Birthing Day Affirmations, and that really made me feel better about the impending induction, even though it was not what I had wanted.

We got to the hospital around 2ish, got admitted and hooked up to the monitors. Julie, our first midwife, came in and went over our birth plan with us. She was very supportive of our preferences, and even said we could try natural methods of augmenting the PW, since Teagun’s heartrate was looking good! I was so excited. It was as much her general attitude as not having to jump right into Pitocin. Even though I had come to accept the idea of Pit, I was very happy to have a second shot at something resembling the birth I had visualized.

I got hooked up to the IV and my GSB antibiotics around 4:30. The IV was terribly uncomfortable and continued to bother me until they removed it the next morning. While they ran the antibiotics, I tried the breast pump to augment the PW, which, I think, were about 6-7 minutes apart at that point, and still relatively mild.

After the antibiotics were done, around 6ish, we decided to walk the floor a bit. My mom, DH’s mom (Sue) and (2 year old DD) Kismet had joined us at this time. We hadn’t been walking for more than 10 minutes when the PW really started to pick up, in frequency and intensity. They were coming about every 3-4 minutes, and required a little concentration at this point. We walked for a bit, stopping for the waves and when we found a play area for Kizzy.

We made it back to the room about 7, to find we had wandered too far, and security was looking for us! =-O We apologized profusely.

Around this time the waves started getting really intense, and I thought I should try listening to my scripts, because if I couldn’t get the PW under control, I was worried pain meds were in my future, as they were starting to feel like when I had Kizzy, and I was certain we had several hours of that ahead of us.

I tried listening to Easy First Stage, but was having a hard time concentrating because Kizzy kept telling me to wake up, so Sue took her for a walk. As long as things stayed quiet, the CD helped a lot. Especially between waves, I was able to relax and rest.

I planned on spending the next few hours laying down, listening to my scripts, so I told Tony it was time for Kizzy to go home. He called his mom to bring her up to say good-bye, and my mom called her friend to come pick her up.

Sue brought Kismet up, and her and my mom went down to get Kizzy’s carseat, around 8:55. Shortly after that, I had a wave where I felt a little like I wanted to push. I called Maureen, our second midwife, and she checked, said I was 8 cm, and I could give little, grunty pushes with the PW if that felt good. She reminded me I could stay on my side if I wanted, or do whatever felt comfortable.

I don’t remember if it was the next wave, or the one after that, but it was certainly within 10 minutes of the first “pushy” feeling, but whichever it was, the wave took over, and Teagun was born, in about one long pressure wave. My mom and Sue didn’t get back until his head was half way out. Tony ended up holding my leg with one hand and Kizzy with the other.

Teagun was born in the caul, which is to say that my water never broke, and he was still in the bag of waters when his head came out. It’s apparently quite rare, and is supposed to be a good omen. :-) Maureen broke my water as his head made its way out (from my hazy recollection, there really wasn’t any crowning; there was no baby, then his head was half out). His cord was wrapped around his neck twice, which the midwife quickly took care of.

He was placed on my chest immediately, and, as per our request, they waited to clamp the cord until it stopped pulsating.

We made it home late Wednesday, and are enjoying learning to juggle 2 kiddos and getting to know Teagun: so far, I can tell you he has a squeaky little cry, crazy strong neck muscles, and an obsession with trying to eat his fists. <3<3<3 My recovery has been ridiculously swift; I only had mild burning with peeing for about 1.5 days, and then I felt pretty much completely back to normal (as opposed to still being in pain 8 weeks after DD’s birth).

I could hardly be happier with my experience.

On one hand, it wasn’t p**nless (the pressure waves were definitely causing some p**n near the end),

but I didn’t think to really utilize my tools until it was almost too late.

I think, thanks to the reprogramming of Hypnobabies, I didn’t realize how advanced I was pretty much until he was born.

I thought we had hours left.

If I had taken more time to get into hypnosis during my birthing time, I feel like I would have been more comfortable.

That being said, this was a walk in the park compared to my DD’s birth;

it was *significantly* less p**nful, for one.

My Hypnobabies training helped me stay relaxed and calm through my PW, even when (during transition, apparently; at the time I thought I was maybe halfway done) I started to doubt myself briefly.

I felt so much more in control of the situation and my body.

Ironically, the HB tools I was never particularly fond of (the 4-in, 8-out breathing and Special Place (I never felt comfortable trying to visual a baby I hadn’t met yet)) were the ones I ended up using the most.

DH had no idea I was experiencing any discomfort throughout our entire birthing time.